Sewer Updates: Post Road North Price Reduction, Shore Acres Survey Results

The price has come down a bit on the proposed cost to continue sewers up Post Road north of Quonset. The revised plan has the sewer going from Newcomb Avenue to School Street and stopping there, since there are fewer businesses north of School Street.

"At Newcomb, we're running a low-pressure system and a forced main. That allows us to stay in that one travel lane" on Post Road, said Jim Geremia, the town's sewer consultant. "We can directional drill from one side to the other," he told the Town Council last week. The idea is to provide for expansion of the system into neighborhoods such as King Phillip Road and Chadsey Road later, so there will be a pump station nearby.

"We're looking at the future but planning for just the Post Road corridor," Geremia said.

The council asked Geremia about what will happen with the residences on Devils Foot Road, which are already connected to the existing Quonset sewer line, including the apartments behind the Dunkin' Donuts and the converted Navy housing.

"All of those users will come off the QDC system and will become part of the town system as soon as you take over and begin the billing process." They will be charged a user fee only, no assessment.

Another part of the sewer discussion at the Town Council meeting was the survey of residents of Sauga Point/Shore Acres. The town has already bonded $4.2 million to sewer that area but installing sewers to those waterfront neighborhoods will cost each homeowner, so the Town Council asked them if they wanted sewers. 

The town as of Oct. 24 had received 167 responses from 342 surveys mailed – a 48 percent response. A total of 88 people (53 percent) said "no" to sewers and 78 people said "yes" to sewers (47 percent).

Sauga Avenue resident Will King, who has conducted his own surveys of residents, is an advocate of sewers for the area. 

"I do think sewers should be done for this peninsula," he said Thursday. "It is the right thing to do, it fixes a public health issue and it short-circuits the inevitable DEM ratcheting up of septic regulations which will cost homeowners far more to stay in conformance with than municipal sewers. My concern is that the Town Council will make a decision based on a survey that was inadequate."

Also discussed at last week's Town Council meeting was where to put a pumping station on Post Road south. The town has been in discussions with Smith's Castle, but the state Dept. of Transportation is offering to sell the parcel on the corner of Huling and Stony Lane, behind Taylor Rental. Bergeron said he should know more about both options within the next two weeks.

You can read about the most recent plans for sewering Wickford here.